Fenal is used as starting material for the preparation of compounds having HMG-CoA reductase inhibiting activity, such as Fluvastatin (CAS Registry number 93957-54-1), whose chemical formula is reported here-below:

More in details, compound (I) can be converted into Fenal, by reaction with compound (IV)
in acetonitrile in the presence of POCl3, as disclosed in WO 84/82131 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,073.
Methods for manufacturing (I) are for instance disclosed in J.O.C., 57, 3250–3252 (1992), GB-945536, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,853. More in details, the J.O.C.'s article discloses a method in which N-methylformanilide is reacted in dichloromethane with ethyl vinyl ether in the presence of POCl3; GB-945536 discloses a method in which N-methylformanilide is reacted in dichloroethane with ethyl vinyl ether in the presence of phosgene; U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,853 discloses a method in which N-methylformanilide is reacted in dichloromethane with ethyl vinyl ether in the presence of oxalylchloride.
All the above methods are however characterized by the use of low boiling chlorinated solvents which, for well known safety reasons, are normally avoided in industrial processes. The purpose of the present invention is therefore that of finding an alternative method for manufacturing Fenal which is devoided of the drawbacks of the known methods and which may possibly afford higher yields.